Learn more about your local and regional bands here, straight from the Sound Board. And since we’re recording straight from the board, we’re getting the best sounds possible. This month’s argument-starting questions are:

 

1. Gibson or Fender? Or neither? Why?

2. Start your own label or get signed by a megacorpfactory label?

3. Vinyl or CD?

4. Is Neil Peart God? Why or why not?

 

Criss Cheatham (solo, August Christopher)

 

1. That's a very good question. I lived and died by the Strat up until recently. Steve Sheroan plays a Strat style guitar (actually it's a handmade Tom Anderson, but is similar to a Fender Strat) and the two of us having similar tone for so many years influenced me to pick up a Les Paul. I hated it at first, it's so heavy and completely different to play, but the tone is very big. Now, after only 4-5 months, I reach for my Les Paul

more than I do the Strat, even on 3-piece gigs when I'm the only guitar player! I just really enjoy the warmth and the testosterone of the Paul. If you play both, you will have to make major adjustments to your tone when switching. I personally have a BOSS EQ pedal with the lows turned down and the volume up a bit that I only use when playing the Strat. I still have to make changes on my amp when switching too sometimes. It's worth it, though!

           

(FYI, I would also like to add that I play a Mexican Strat and Epiphone Paul. That doesn't mean they are crap! They are older, great wood, and have good intonation; I have literally spent hundreds and hundreds replacing hardware, setups, etc... but am not ashamed to say they are great guitars. So... don't go spend $2500 on a guitar until you’re Slash, OK? - and then it's free anyhow).

            So the short answer is BOTH. That's what made so many 2-guitar bands sound so big - each guy playing a different guitar. The Strat against the Les Paul is a GREAT mix. Pearl Jam is the first band that comes to mind.

           

2. Again, both have huge upsides and downsides. When AC sells a $10 record, AC gets $10. That's a big deal; indie labels maintain that mentality to an extent. Lower budget, less overhead, artist gets more control and ultimately ends up with more money per unit. When I played with Bomshel (Curb Records), the label spent almost half a million on the band before selling a single record. When you have a major deal, you only get a few points on every unit (sometimes less than 20 cents per record) and you STILL have to pay the label back everything they spent on you out of that income! Artists sometimes have to sell 500,000 units before they even get paid at all!

Oh, yeah - and artistic control? Good luck...         

            Then again, small labels can only do so much. The record won't sound as good, the chances of BIG fame are much smaller, including radio, television, etc. The majors can REALLY make things happen. I've also been told that less than 5% of bands that DO get signed to majors even get their record in stores! Those are not good odds, but at least you have SOME odds. I would love to sign with a major if I was guaranteed some artistic integrity, a solid paycheck, and ownership in the brand and product.

            I like the way we do it. We sell our stuff on the internet and from the stage. We have minimal distribution, spend all the money ourselves to make the record, but when we sell 1,000 copies, we make $10,000.

            That doesn't mean I wouldn't love to have a top ten video on VH1...

 

3. Vinyl - no question, not even close! The only down side is that you’re limited in the amount of music you can put on a record. Analog reigns over digital in EVERY situation, PERIOD!

 

4. First off, GOD is GOD, no musician, actor, athlete, or human being (other than Jesus Christ). Secondly, Neil Peart is super overrated (in my humble opinion). The guy overplays on everything, can't keep time, and grooves about as white as Opie. Take him out of his comfort zone - like having him play jazz on the tribute to Buddy Rich record, AWFUL! Most rock drummers are overrated. They typically represent a small handful of people who got lucky and never really learned the instrument. There are exceptions, though - I think that Carter from DMB is great, Alex Van Halen is great, John Bonham is good, Phil Collins is good...

            But, NO! Lars Ulrich (SUCK!), Tommy Lee (SUCK!), Criss Cheatham (SUCK!).

            I did an entire segment dedicated to this on my radio show "Welcome To The Big Letdown" on 97X here in Owensboro (currently on hiatus) explaining many of the ins and outs of rock drumming. I went on to talk about my 5 favorites including Steve Gadd, Stevie Wonder, Jeff Percaro and more. (All past radio episodes are online free at augustchristopher.com)

 

Namaste

 

1. If I had to choose, it'd be Fender... why? Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Stevie Ray Vaughn, etc., need I say more? But I have fallen in love with my semi-hollow body Hamer Artist series, and would trade it for no other guitar ever.

 

2. Big mega labels are dying/rebirthing into new formats. Small indie labels have just as good a chance to help a band now, if not better because they aren’t spread too thin.

 

3. CD is obviously the smartest marketing decision. Sure, vinyl is cool, but it’s a novelty now. CDs are practically a novelty in their own right. I say mp3s over both, if the goal is to be heard by as many people as possible (why else make music if not to be heard?).

 

4. I’m not touching that one… hehe.

 

 

Kaptain Crunch & the Cereal Killers

 

1. Well we love what Fender and Gibson put out, I mean, what’s not to love, but we also love the stuff from Hamer, Music Man and PRS. Its really does seem that you get what you pay for in the guitar world and that usually means the top stuff ($1000 to $3500)  is all very good. Currently we use some of the top stuff from Fernandes, Music Man, Devlin and  yes, even a Fender for our sound. Unfortunately we feel a good axe shouldn't be the price of a Buick. (PS: Gibson and Fender Company guys, if you’re listening....we could be easily swayed).

 

2. Well the indie labels are everywhere! Every dude with a computer in his basement seems to have one. They come up to us at every show with, "man you guys rock! Dudes, you really need to hook up with us… Man." I know it's not about the money... but we just want a REAL LABEL to pull up in front of the house with a Provost Coach and a dump truck full of money and say, "come on guys get in...."

 

3. Wow, that’s a hard one. But, we'd have to say CDs. We like to think we're all about quality... vinyl kills CDs in that respect, but we can't make vinyl out of our basement. So until we figure how to hook up a Scully Vinyl Lathe to our home computer, CDs.

 

4. God may be strong word, but he's definitely is one of the founding fathers of the fast-fill, edgy drum solos and beats that you can hear in many songs today. Dare we use the term "Son of" ?